National Academies Press: OpenBook

Fulfilling the Promise: Biology Education in the Nation's Schools (1990)

Chapter: Appendix E: Special Science Programs and Schools

« Previous: Appendix D: State Alternative Certification Programs (As of June 1987)
Suggested Citation:"Appendix E: Special Science Programs and Schools." National Research Council. 1990. Fulfilling the Promise: Biology Education in the Nation's Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1533.
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Page 133
Suggested Citation:"Appendix E: Special Science Programs and Schools." National Research Council. 1990. Fulfilling the Promise: Biology Education in the Nation's Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1533.
×
Page 134
Suggested Citation:"Appendix E: Special Science Programs and Schools." National Research Council. 1990. Fulfilling the Promise: Biology Education in the Nation's Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1533.
×
Page 135
Suggested Citation:"Appendix E: Special Science Programs and Schools." National Research Council. 1990. Fulfilling the Promise: Biology Education in the Nation's Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1533.
×
Page 136

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APPENDIX E SPECIAL SCIENCE PROGRAMS AND SCHOOLS Some Specialized Public High Schools and Magnet High Schools of Science and Mathematics Illinois Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Chicago Maryland Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Baltimore Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Greenbelt Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring Oxon Hill High School, Oxon Hill New York Bronx High School of Science, New York Brooklyn Technical High School, New York Stuyvesant High School, New York Pennsylvania Central High School of Philadelphia, Philadelphia George Washington High School of Engineering and Science, Philadelphia Texas Science Academy of Austin, Austin Virginia Central Virginia Governor's School for Science and Technology, Lynchburg Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria State-Sponsored Residential Schools of Science and Mathematics The Illinois Science and Mathematics Academy (IMSA) was founded in 1986. It accepts students after their freshman year. One of its goals is "to serve as a laboratory for the development of testing, and dissemination of innovative techniques in mathematics, science and the humanities which can become a resource for secondary school teachers in Illinois and the nation." IMSA is in residential Aurora, Ill., along the high-technology corridor that includes Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Amoco, NALCO, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Argonne National Laboratory, and many other research laboratories. The Louisiana School for Science, Mathematics and the Arts admitted its first class in 1983. As an extension of the public-school system, it offers a specialized program for juniors and seniors on the campus of Northwestern 133

34 APPENDIX E University in Natchitoches, La. The school also serves as a resource center for inservice training and research or education of gifted and talented students. The Mississippi School for Math and Science, in its second year, is in Columbus, Miss., on the campus of Mississippi University for Women. The purpose of the school "shall be to educate the gifted and talented students of the state." Students are admitted after their sophomore year; the application process is competitive. The North Carolina School for Science and Mathematics was opened in 1980 as the nation's first public, residential high school for students with special aptitude and interest in science and mathematics. Students are accepted after their sophomore year. A recent survey found that 80% of its graduates went on to science and engineering majors in college, and two-thirds of its graduates have elected to go to college in North Carolina. It is in Durham, in the Research Triangle area. The South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics is in its third year. It is housed in a rural setting on the campus of Coker College, in Hartsville, S.C. It is a 2-year institution that draws students from large and small high schools throughout the state. The school's goal is "to teach the students how to think, analyze and synthesize information and understand the complexities of problem solving in any discipline." The school plans to become involved in inservice teacher training by sponsoring summer institutes. The Texas Academy of Science and Mathematics, housed at the Univer- sity of North Texas, is in its second year. It offers an early-admission program that allows students who are particularly talented in science and mathematics to take their last 2 years of high school and first 2 years of college concurrently in residence on a college campus. Local and Regional Science and Technology Centers Roanoke Valley Governor's School, Roanoke, Va., opened in August 1985. The Governor's School serves eight school districts and 15 high schools. It offers a 3-year science and mathematics curriculum that provides accelerated opportunities for highly motivated secondary-school students. The New Horizons Governor's School for Science and Technology, Hampton, Va., students attend classes at both New Horizons and their home school. Students also serve a mentorship in a professional or research setting as an after-school or weekend activity. The Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center, Kalamazoo, Mich., was conceived in 1981 by the Upjohn Company and developed with cooperation of the schools of the greater Kalamazoo area. The center opened

APPENDIX E 135 its doors in 1986. In 1989, it had a 4-year program with 400 students. The center is under control of the schools, but draws on the resources and counsel of private industry. Students spend half-days at the center, and return to home schools for the remainder of the day. The goal is to plan and deliver professional development programs for mathematics and science educators, in concert with area scientists. Additional Science and Technology Enhancement Programs Teacher Enhancement: Ball State University, Indiana. A 4-week workshop in human genetics, sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), couples information about content with strategies for teaching new materials. It has been oversubscribed for years, and it has fulfilled one of the prime objectives of earlier NSF- sponsored summer institutes: promoting a feeling of community among biology teachers. DNA Literacy Program, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The DNA Learning Center has developed a curriculum that centers around nine exper- iments culminating in the analysis of recombinant DNA. Teachers participate in a 5-day summer workshop, with a weekend followup during the winter, designed to help instructors to set up laboratory programs in their own schools. The center, in Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., provides an interactive environment for students, teachers, and the public. Middle-school and high-school students also participate in laboratory activities at the center during the school year. Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). As part of the outreach pro- gram of its undergraduate initiative, HHMI has given grants to 44 undergraduate institutions to improve the quality of curricula and teaching of high-school biol- ogy and related sciences. The 44 institutions are to "offer an array of academic training programs in science and mathematics for teachers and students at the junior, high school, and junior college levels." Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. This federally funded facility in Oak- land, Calif., offers a program to address shortcomings of science instruction at the elementary level and the underrepresentation of minority groups in technical fields. Each summer, scientists offer lesson workshops for teachers. Key ele- ments include instruction by laboratory scientists, engineers, and technologists; instruction in lesson-plan preparation; and experiments with inexpensive ma- terials that demonstrate basic scientific concepts. For many elementary-school teachers, this is the first exposure to physics or chemistry. The program strives to reduce teacher anxiety about discussing physics, chemistry, and other topics with their students. The laboratory is developing mathematics and science ma- terials to be used by the National Urban Coalition in its Say YES to Youngsters program.

136 APPENDIX E North Carolina Biotechnology Center, Research Triangle Park. This center is a state-funded, nonprofit corporation that promotes biotechnology research, business, and public awareness. Its biotechnology education project aims to increase the number of students receiving biotechnology education and to improve the quality of that education through a sustained effort to update a significant portion of the state's biology teachers about the science, applications, and issues of biotechnology. The center promotes teacher workshops, develops teaching materials, and provides teacher and student support services. University of California Science and Health Education Partnership. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) are paired with San Francisco Unified School District science teachers. UCSF researchers donate scientific and administrative equipment, update teachers on recent ad- vances relevant to their curricula, provide technical advice, promote laboratory tours, and support an annual student science teaching contest. The partnership was founded in 1987 and is supported by grants from a variety of private foundations and most recently also from the U.S. Department of Education. Student Enhancement: Project WILD. This project is sponsored principally by state wildlife agen- cies and state departments of education as an interdisciplinary, supplementary environmental and conservation education program emphasizing wildlife. The project is based on the premise that young people and their teachers have a vital interest in learning about the earth. The goal of Project WILD is to assist learners of any age "to develop awareness, knowledge, skills, and commitment which will result in informed decisions, responsible behavior, and constructive actions . . . for wildlife and the environment upon which all life depends." Twenty-seven states sponsor the program. Activities have been developed for both elementary-school and secondary-school students.

Next: Appendix F: Programs Targeted to Women and Members of Minority Groups »
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Why are students today not learning biology, appreciating its importance in their lives, or pursuing it as a career? Experts believe dismal learning experiences in biology classes are causing the vast majority of students to miss information that could help them lead healthier lives and make more intelligent decisions as adults. How can we improve the teaching of biology throughout the school curriculum? Fulfilling the Promise offers a vision of what biology education in our schools could be—along with practical, hard-hitting recommendations on how to make that vision a reality. Noting that many of their recommended changes will be controversial, the authors explore in detail the major questions that must be answered to bring biology education to an acceptable standard: how elementary, middle, and high-school biology education arrived at its present state; what impediments stand in the way of improving biology education; how to properly prepare biology teachers and encourage their continuing good performance; and what type of leadership is needed to improve biology education.

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